The Danish String Quartet Passes On The Folk Tunes Of The Faroe Islands

Photo by Caroline Bittencourt

Over the last decade, Copenhagen’s Danish String Quartet has gained the attention of the global classical scene, winning all kinds of recognition and performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. But earlier this year, the Quartet of young, bearded, not-so-classical looking Danish guys released a collection of 400 year-old Scandinavian folk songs from The Faroe Islands – a place with the kinds of unbelievable landscapes that it’s hard to imagine anything bad could come from them. Released in May and featured this week in a Tiny Desk Concert, Wood Works (Amazon & Spotify) is mostly made up of thirteen Nordic folk tunes, many of which are wedding songs, that are absolutely stunning and echo the beauty of the land they came from. The album is hard to classify, mixing flavors of Baroque-era songs with the spirit of Irish or Appalachian folk and fiddle tunes. It’s the perfect album for reading and drinking whiskey to escape a cold night in Brooklyn.